Celebrating our 50th Issue! - World Parrot Trust

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Why Easter spells disaster for Yelloweared Parrots From WORLD BIRDWATCH Vol 23 No 4, Dec 2001. The Yellow-eared Parrot (Ognorhynchos icterotis Critically Endangered) was once abundant across the High Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. However, by the late 1990’s it was feared extinct until Proyecto Ognorhynchus rediscovered a small population in central Colombia. Thanks to their efforts, working with the local community, this population has steadily increased, from 81 birds in 1999 to approximately 180 birds today. In January 2001, a second population of 277 birds was found in western Colombia, a considerable extension of their known range. Proyecto Ognorhynchus immediately sent in a reasearch and conservation team, funded by Loro Parque Foundation and working with CorAntioquia (a regional environment agency). It soon became clear that the population was severely threatened because the wax palms Ceroxylon spp., on which the parrots are totally dependent, were being felled at an alarming rate. The wax palm, Colombia’s national tree, is Critically Endangered and grows extremely slowly. Mature trees may be more than 500 years old. Each year, during the religious festival of Easter, Palm Sunday is popularly celebrated around the world with palm-frond waving parades. Unfortunately, in most towns in the Colombian Andes, wax palms are the fronds of choice for this procession. Ahead of Palm Sunday, CorAntiquia approached the local priest to ask him to encourage his congregation to use alternatives, such as the far commoner Wettinia palm. Despite this, on Palm Sunday roughly 400 villagers, and even some police, who had been advised of the palm’s legally protected status, were carrying wax palm fronds. This equates to the destruction of roughly 100 trees. Proyecto Ognorhynchus is now Yellow-eared Parrots. Photo: Proyecto Ognorhynchus/ Bernabé López-Lanús intensifying environmental awareness and conservation activities with local communities to avoid a repeat of this needless destruction, and in October, more than 200 members of the community participated in a World Birdwatch day event at the site. Ironically, Palm Sunday parades in the area where Yellow-eared Parrots were first rediscovered do not pose a threat; FARC guerrillas are active there, and do not permit the felling of live palms. For more information on Proyecto Ognorhynchus, please visit www.ognorhynchus.com. New Caribbean Environmental Poster Series Announced The British High Commission office in the Eastern Caribbean recently approved BDS$9,000 to design and print a new series of 5,000 wildlife education posters for school children on St. Vincent & the Grenadines. The award was granted to the Forestry Department of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and to Graeme Echo Parakeet, Paradise Park. Hall Nature Sanctuary in Barbados, and will offset the costs of graphic design and printing. The new educational poster series is being produced to highlight the unique plants and wildlife that exist only in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. The poster series will initially feature five unique endemic species; the St. Vincent Amazon Parrot (Amazona guildingii), the Whistling Warbler, The St. Vincent Whistling Frog, the St. Vincent Black Snake, and an endemic plant / flower which is unique to the high altitude slopes of Mount La Soufriere. According to Roger Sweeney, Associate Director of the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, the poster series is designed to increase local community awareness about the unique natural heritage of St. Vincent. "We hope that increased local awareness will lead to greater appreciation of the islands natural history and promote greater species protection," said Sweeney. "We think this project will show how these species leverage national pride and promote conservation of the unique natural resources on our islands." The poster series is being designed for distribution to schoolchildren as part of the on-going environmental education programmes supported by the St. Vincent forestry department. The education programmes of the forestry department are now being increased as part of a campaign to inform the local community about the aims of a new integrated forestry management and development project being developed in St. Vincent. Artwork for the first two posters in the series, which will feature the St. Vincent Parrot and the Whistling Warbler, is being made available Photo: Paradise Park courtesy Mr. Herbert Raffaele of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Evolutionary origin of the rare Mauritius Parakeet By DR. JIM GROOMBRIDGE, Project Coordinator, Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project, 2465 Olinda Road, Makawo, HI 96768, USA. I am currently working on a publication of a cytochrome-b phylogeny of the Psittacula parakeets, which deals with the evolutionary origin of the rare Mauritius Parakeet. This work was part of my PhD which dealt with the rare avifauna of Mauritius, during which time I worked for the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation. I am looking to set up some additional work on the Psittacula parakeet phylogenetics, and I would like to obtain samples of all the Psittacula species and subspecies. The Psittacula genus is a good one to study extinction rates, because it includes continental species, island species, extinct species and recovering species, as well as nonendangered island species. I am aiming to sequence DNA from the two extinct museum species of the Seychelles and Rodrigues and add these on to the phylogeny, and study the evolution of the whole genus by looking at morphometric characters across the different phylogenetic clades, thereby revealing patterns of extinction and evolutionary processes. Psittacula species such as the Longtailed (Psittacula longicauda) and Moustached parakeets (Psittacula alexandri) have many different subspecies from different geographical locations. I realise that some of the subspecies will be difficult to get hold of. Can anyone suggest any good contacts / collectors / suppliers (in / out of UK) that deal with Psittacula parakeets who I might be able to obtain blood samples from. Fresh (i.e. not museum) samples will be much easier to obtain DNA from. I am aiming to accumulate about 10-15 unrelated samples of each species and if possible, subspecies as well. I have one or two samples from the majority of species already, but to accomplish what I want to do, I need to extend sample sizes and fill in the taxonomic gaps. Any help / advice / suggestions you may have would be great regarding contacts that may have large / small / diverse Psittacula collections and may be able to provide fresh (feather or - preferably- blood) samples. 16 ■ PsittaScene February 2002, No 50
WPT Members List - Please join Since we have a very impressive collection of researchers, aviculturists, educators, and all around committed parrot owners among our ranks, we thought it might be helpful to have a venue for: • Asking and answering questions about parrots, parrot care, and parrot conservation. • Updating members on the latest news from the field, faster and with greater depth than in PsittaScene. • Providing information on upcoming meetings and events that might be of interest to members. Signing up is easy. Just send a message to wptmembers@worldparrottrust.org along with your name and member number (that's on your mailing label) and we'll send you a welcome letter with the details on how the whole thing works. Please give it a whirl, and we'll look forward to seeing you there! WPWA - We Welcome Your Support World Parrot Welfare Alliance - we want to be inclusive. If you care about parrots and want to help, we welcome your input and suggestions - whether you are involved with a large, incorporated sanctuary; a small, informal "Mom and Pop" shelter; a parrot breeder, or are "just" a parrot lover not directly involved in parrot welfare. WPWA was created to bring together people in all countries who are concerned about the current crisis in the welfare of captive parrots, and to seek solutions. Our objectives are -- in brief--to fight for the well-being of all parrots and against abusive predatory practices. Please Contact: Stewart Metz, M.D. , Chairperson (Steering Committee), Email parrotdoc@msn.com, e-Fax 208-445-0898, Web www.worldparrottrust.org/WPWA/wpwahome.html Winning Bid for Grant Hackings Framed Original Painting of Golden Conure (Guaruba guarouba) £6,500 Congratulations and many thanks: John Watkins, UK Book Review Advice on pet parrots A forty-page booklet based on the premise that if your parrot is correctly trained wing-clipping is unnecessary, Greg Glendell’s Pet Parrots Advice Direct should be read by parrot owners. A substantial part is devoted to Obedience Training, with the emphasis on developing a relationship of trust. The essential commands are 1. Stepping up, 2. Stepping down, 3. Stay and 4. Go! A parrot should never be punished for its behaviour. Fearful birds (which includes many which are wild-caught), cannot be trained until they are reasonably comfortable in the company of people. Bold or aggressive birds might bite but they are easier to train than nervous birds. The quickest way to stop biting is to show no reaction to a bite. Repeat the command and try again. Remain calm and confident. The author makes some valid points on other aspects, such as: “Parrots cannot cope with solitude and often develop serious behavioural problems without the close company of either their owner or another bird.” He suggests that if the parrot’s cage is in the living room, the owner can consider placing a smaller cage for sleeping only in a room that is not used during the night. A parrot needs 10 to 12 hours sleep at night. Many do not have enough sleep because they are kept awake by lights and television. There are notes on a healthy diet, on feather plucking, first aid and vets and on wingclipping. The latter is often carried out because owners erroneously think it is needed to have control of the bird. This useful and thoughtful booklet shows quite clearly that this is a fallacy. It can be obtained from The Pet Parrot Consultancy, PO Box 227, Shrewsbury, SY4 5WU. The price is £4.90. PsittaScene February 2002, No 50 ■ 17
Page 1 and 2: Magazine of the World Parrot Trust
Page 3 and 4: Blue-throat Macaws (Ara glaucogular
Page 5 and 6: The final lines of the presentation
Page 7 and 8: Example of a Lodge in local area. C
Page 9 and 10: A parrot’s ‘body language’ in
Page 11 and 12: A Goffin’s Cockatoo won the heart
Page 13 and 14: A New Kakapo Breeding Season Rosema
Page 15: Review of The World Parrot Trust By
Page 19 and 20: Aims of the Trust With thousands of

Celebrating our 50th Issue! - World Parrot Trust

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